


Your Eyes (they tell me everything)

by maybe_we_were



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angry Tony Stark, F/M, Frustrated Natasha, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, Laboratories, POV Natasha Romanov, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Protective Steve Rogers, Secrets, annoying songs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-24
Updated: 2016-11-24
Packaged: 2018-09-01 20:39:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8637313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maybe_we_were/pseuds/maybe_we_were
Summary: Tony is the subject of a prank and blames Natasha.  Natasha is adamant she didn't do it.  Steve has had enough, and sets everything straight.Set post Avengers: Age of Ultron and prior to Captain America: Civil War.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I hope you are all doing well! Things have been busy, so I am looking forward to a couple of days off. This new fic mostly revolves around Natasha and Tony, but Steve is in there too. To be honest, the one line came from Dirty Dancing, which is what sparked the idea for this fic. I hope you like it! <3
> 
> As always, there's a reason Stan Lee is in all of the Marvel movies.

Although Tony mentioned finding a quiet spot for himself and Pepper, he’s at the new Avengers base quite a bit.  He typically comes back to pester Steve and tinker around in his lab, sometimes bringing Pepper with him and sometimes arriving alone.

It’s an early Tuesday morning around seven when Natasha gets a message asking her to go to Tony’s lab.  She was already dressed and ready for the day, just finishing up her breakfast in the kitchen, so she slips on her shoes and heads down to the lab, which is six floors below the living quarters.

She can hear the music before she reaches the correct floor, and she can’t help but wonder why someone would play that horrible song.  As the elevator opens, “It’s a Small World After All” begins playing again in an annoyingly high-pitched plays through the stereo.

She covers her ears and enters the lab to see Tony sitting on a stool near his work station.  Thankfully, he clicks the remote in his hand so that the volume turns down to a lower, yet still present, setting, allowing her to remove her fingers from her ears. 

“Hey Romanoff,” Tony says, way too casually.  “How’s it going?”

Based off the tone of his voice, he doesn’t actually expect an answer.  He starts speaking again without pause, confirming her thoughts.

“Do you hear that wonderful masterpiece that is playing through the sound system?  It’s just so catchy, isn’t it?”

Catchy isn’t quite the word she’d use for it.  She goes to open her mouth to tell Tony to get to the point, but she’s cut off before she utters a word.

“Any ideas why this song has been programmed to play whenever I’m in my lab?”

She puts a finger on her lip and glances up, pretending to ponder his question.

“I don’t know, does it take you back to a better time?” she replies sarcastically.

He scoffs.  “I hate this song and you know it.  Though I’m not sure how.  So if you would be kind enough to change the programming back, that would be great.”

She would almost think he’s joking, but the serious line to his mouth gives the opposite impression.  Although they’ve had some ups and downs (mistrust from when she was sent to watch him, working together as the Avengers, the blame for Ultron), she’s honest when she tells him that she didn’t do this.

“Tony, honestly, I didn’t set your lab’s stereo.  When during the day would I have time to do that?  Between practice, setting everything up for the new trainees, and missions, I barely have time to sleep and eat, let alone prank people.”

The response she gets isn’t what she was expecting, but she isn’t exactly surprised, either.

“Romanoff, you are the only one who would do this.  Cap couldn’t think of an idea like this and Wilson and Maximoff know better.  That just leaves you.  So if you could fix it and put in the encrypted password…”

She narrows her eyes at him and arches an eyebrow, before brushing him off and walking out of the lab.

 

Tony finds her again, this time when she’s in the weapons range, which _probably_ wasn’t a good idea on his end.

“Romanoff,” he calls, his voice sharp, “I can’t turn it down or make it stop.  It’s hard to concentrate with that garbage playing all the time.”

Relaxing her stance, she sets down her gun and angles herself in his direction. 

“Tony, _it wasn’t me_.”

She punctuates each word, hoping it will sink in.

It doesn’t.

“You’ve had the whole week since I was here last to get it set up.  That’s plenty of time.”

Frustrated, her hands clench into a fist.  Not only are his accusations annoying, but so is his arrogance.  They are teammates.  If she said she didn’t do something, he should believe it.

“I was gone on a mission and didn’t get back until Sunday.  Check with Fury.  I had training all day yesterday, which you can check with Wanda.  Better yet, why not just check the security footage?  That would be pretty simple.”

“Small problem, Red.  It was erased.”

“Well then, that’s your problem.”

Finished with their conversation, she picks up her ear protection, puts it on, picks up her gun, and continues her target practice.

 

Tony must think that the third time is the charm, because he walks into the kitchen moments after she does. 

She had gone back and taken a shower, finished up some paperwork, and decided to head to the kitchen for dinner.  Steve was already there, chopping up vegetables to make soup.  There was just the sound of the knife hitting the cutting board as Natasha perched herself on the stool next to the island where Steve was working.

They’ve decided to take turns cooking, as neither of them are picky eaters and cooking for one is much harder than cooking for two.  Tonight Steve offered, so Natasha sits and watches as he continues his preparations.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Tony stalk in, a long finger pointed in her direction.  She can tell by the red staining his cheeks that he’s wound up and is probably going to explode.  He starts ranting before she even opens her mouth to stop him.

“Listen here, Red.  I’ve had enough.  It’s one thing to pull a prank.  Normally, I find anything that pushes other peoples’ buttons funny, but this is crazy.  Not only that, but you lied _twice_ and refuse to turn that song off even though I _know_ it was you.  Yeah, yeah, you weren’t here, but that still leaves between the hours of nine p.m. and six a.m. unaccounted for.  So, either you shut off the annoying music blasting through the speakers and grating my nerves, or you _will be_ finding another place to live.”

There’s only silence in the kitchen, not even the sound of Steve chopping up vegetables.  Natasha glances over to find the deadliest look she’s ever seen cross his face.  His normally light blue eyes are stormy and they’re narrowed in a way that makes _her_ want to cringe, and he’s not even looking at her.  No, that look is for Tony, which he seems to realize a second later.

“Don’t give me that look, Spangles,” Tony reprimands, his mouth thinning into a tight line, “She knows what she did.”

“Actually,” Steve starts, his voice low and oddly calm, “I’m pretty sure she was in for the night at that point.”

She notices the way his fingers curl around the knife hilt before setting it down altogether.

“Sure, Cap.  Since you keep tabs on all of the team all the time.”  Tony rolls his eyes for good measure.  “She could have easily left her room at any point during the night.”

There’s a moment of quiet before Steve speaks again.

“I never said she was in her room.  I know for a fact that she wasn’t, because she was with me.”

 Tony is clearly flabbergasted, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.  “But why would she be…”

He stops, and it’s like a lightbulb turns on over his head.

“And before you ask and make a bigger fool of yourself, yes, she was there all night,” Steve confirms, his voice conveying his no-nonsense demeanor. 

“I believe you owe her an apology, and then you’re done here.  If you so much as think of shooting another look in her direction, you’ll answer to me.”

Tony is still pointing a finger between the two of them, trying to process the new information.  Finally, his mouth closes and he mutters, “Sorry,” before heading out of the kitchen.  Natasha didn’t expect much of an apology, but Steve still looks angry.

His eyes soften as they meet hers, and he abandons his task to meet her at the other side of the island.  He wedges himself between her legs, wrapping two strong arms around her.

“Sorry for going all caveman on him, but when he threatened you like that, I just…it was too much,” he whispers soothingly, his breath tickling her face. 

“It’s ok.  Actually, you being so protective is kind of sexy.  But if he didn’t stop, I was going to put him in a thigh hold so he’d shut up.”

This comment earns a low rumble of laughter from Steve, who detaches himself and returns to chopping the vegetables.

At that moment, Rhodey walks in, twirling his key ring around his index finger.

“Hey,” he greets, nodding his head at both of them, “Have you seen Tony?”

Natasha figures it’s best for her to answer, given how Steve felt about the last encounter with Tony.

“We have, but he’s not in the best mood,” she replies, glancing over at Steve, who continues his steady knife work.

There one second and gone the next, a small smile covers Rhodey’s face. 

“I wonder why?,” he says, and Natasha can see he’s trying not to smile.

He gives a small wave and walks towards Tony’s lab, humming “It’s a Small World After All.”


End file.
